Contents

Sociolinguistics

Leonese is spoken by 25,000 people in the Spanish provinces of León, Zamora and the Portuguese district of Bragança. Leonese is recognised by the UN as "Seriously Endangered" and officially recognised by the Autonomous Government.

Education

Leonese is taught in sixteen schools in León city and there are lessons for adults in several villages in the provinces of León and Zamora.

Leonese grammar

Vocalism

The language has a system with five vowels in a stressed position, represented by a, e, i, o, and u and three (two archiphonemes /I/, /U/ and one phoneme /a/) in non-stressed position, represented by e, u, and a at the end of word.

Promotion of the language

For approximately fifteen years some cultural associations have offered courses in Leonese, sometimes with the support or collaboration of local administrations in the provinces of Leon and Zamora. The autonomous community of Castile and León has never collaborated in these courses, which in most cases have taken place in precarious conditions, without continuity or by unqualified teachers and, very often, far from the area where Leonese is spoken.

Endangered language

The UNESCO in its Atlas of Languages in Danger in the World, places Leonese among languages in danger.

Leonese is classified in the worst of the possible situations whose characteristics are:

Non-official language.

No presence in the means of communication.

Low level of knowledge and use.

Low social consideration of the language.

Absence of the language in the school.

Toponymy without normalizing.

Leonese and other Romance languages

Leonese

Portuguese

French

Italian

Venetian

Spanish

Latin

English

facere

fazer

faire

fare

fare

hacer

facere

make

fiyu

filho

fils

figlio

fiolo

hijo

filius

son

fame

fome

faim

fame

fame

hambre

fames

hunger

gochu

porco

cochon

maiale

porselo

cerdo

sus

pig

vieyu

velho

vieux

vecchio

vecio

viejo

vetus

old

chovere

chover

pleuvoir

piovere

piòvare

llover

pluere

rain

English and Leonese words

English

Leonese

Numbers

Númberos

one

unu

two

dous (m), duas (f)

three

tres

four

cuatru

five

cincu

six

seis

seven

siete

eight

ochu

nine

nueve

ten

diez

Literature

Literature written in the Leonese dialect started in the Middle Ages and is still written today. The first written text in Leonese is the Nodicia of Kesos (959 or 974), found in Ardón. Other works in Leonese language include the Fueru de Llión, Fueru de Salamanca, Fueru Xulgu, Códice d'Alfonsu XI, Disputa d'Elena y María and Llibru d'Alixandre.

Important writers are Torres Naharro, Juan del Encina, and Lucas Fernández. Some writers like Caitano Bardón (Cuentos en Dialecto Leonés), Luis Maldonado or Aragón Escacena (Entre brumas) restarted the Leonese literature in the early 20th century. Today, important writers include Eva González in the last 20th century or Abel Pardo, Xuasús González, Adrianu Martín or Félix Llópez.